Getting to know two new members

From Carol Eichler, chair:

I recently received messages from two new members who joined this year:

Nancy Adams writes: I have a love of native plants and selections from natives - a lot of great ornamental plants come from them. I also like succulents, sedums and sempervivums a lot- funky and little and often able to deal with extremes in climate and living conditions. I have worked at Cornell Plantations for the better part of twenty years, and had the great good luck to work with a variety of really cool plants and some really good people. I think the rock garden folks get to work with some neat, unusual plants and there is always something interesting that is going on with their gardens. I like the variety of ways that people interpret and plant their rock gardens too.

Kathy Purdy writes: I garden on 15 acres of acid clay in the hamlet of Triangle, halfway between Greene and Whitney Point. I am a homeschooling mother of a large family and read (that's past tense) a lot of gardening books while breastfeeding, no formal horticultural training. When we moved here, there were colchicums already planted by a former owner, and I've gotten quite interested in them, wrote an article for The American Gardener last fall. I also love the genus Narcissus and am struggling to eliminate invasive plants and incorporate more native plants, especially spring ephemerals. (Let's face it, the goldenrod and asters don't need my help.) There are plenty of rocks here, but I can't say I'm a rock gardener, just interested in interesting plants.

In addition to writng for garden magazines, Kathy is also a pioneer in the world of garden blogging.  You can read her blog posts at Cold Climate Gardening: Hardy Plants for Hardy Souls (http://www.coldclimategardening.com).  If you're thinking of starting your own blog, you should also read her Blogging Art and Practice blog (http://yourbloghelper.com).

Welcome Nancy and Kathy!